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Chief Theresa Spence can end hunger strike with head high: Editorial

Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence has helped drive First Nations’ grievances higher up the national agenda. For that she deserves credit and respect.

Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence can leave Ottawa with her held high as she ends her 44-day fast. She has helped to bring First Nations issues to the top of the national agenda. (FRED CHARTRAND / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Thu., Jan. 24, 2013

She leaves Ottawa with her head high. Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence’s courageous 44-day fast epitomized the hunger of Canada’s First Nations for recognition and a square deal, and her camp-out near Parliament Hill helped drive the issue to the top of the national agenda and onto the international stage.

While Spence couldn’t compel Prime Minister Stephen Harper to convoke Gov.-Gen. David Johnston to a meeting with First Nations leaders, her protest had a far wider impact by highlighting the plight of many native communities: High unemployment, youth suicides, underfunded schools and services, mouldy housing, unfit water, missing and murdered women. After having roused the nation’s conscience, and having catalyzed other protests, Spence was right to call off her fast. There was no cause to risk her health any further.

As Spence’s spokesman Danny Metatawabin put it on Thursday: “We will not be forgotten. We will not be put behind. We have awakened.” That is the raw message of the youth-driven Idle No More movement as well. It is a demand for justice that political leaders should take to heart.

Spence’s fast was controversial. Skeptics question how much she really accomplished, apart from a hurried, firefighting meeting on Jan. 11 between Harper, Assembly of First Nations Chief Shawn Atleo and other chiefs. Many Canadians take a dim view of Idle No More, and doubt that her fast will have lasting impact. A critical audit of Attawapiskat’s books didn’t help.

Moreover the AFN very nearly split as Spence and younger voices defiantly challenged traditional negotiating methods. But divisive or not, this was a cry of anguish that cannot be ignored.

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Canada’s treatment of 1.7 million First Nations people is a national scandal that demands urgent action. We’ve seen mass rallies on Parliament Hill, in cities across the country, and disruption along rail lines and highways. A crisis is brewing that threatens Ottawa’s plans to exploit $600 billion in natural resources on or around native lands.

The ambitious 13-point declaration by the NDP, Liberals and AFN that formally ended Spence’s fast is designed to keep up the pressure when Parliament resumes. It reaffirms Spence’s call for a meeting with Harper, Johnston and the chiefs as part of the “high-level dialogue” Harper promised to implement treaty and other rights. It wants those rights honoured within a short five-year window. It seeks a better funding deal from Ottawa, starting with investments in housing, schooling and native languages. It seeks a “meaningful consultation” on federal legislation that impinges on native interests and rights. It calls on provinces and territories to share resource revenues, and seeks an inquiry into violence against women.

It is a checklist for a healthier relationship between Canada’s governments and indigenous people. For that, Chief Spence deserves her share of credit and respect.

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